Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Spiral Knights debuted its Beta version in late 2010.

On April 4th, 2011, the official version hit the web to rave reviews. Great music, Great visuals, stable 3D overhead view, yadda, yadda, yadda all made it a wonderful game instantly loved by a several hundred thousand players.

A few notes here. The game ran on mist energy. Every player got 100 mist every 24 hours, and elevators cost 10 energy per level. Also, there was no auction house.

That same month the first costume items were offered – Rose Regalia.

Trade chat got added in this first month and the Wild West economy was launched. Because there was no auction house, trade chat used to scroll by almost faster than you could read it.

Gradually the range of weapons and armors and the Haven was expanded. At this point the only entrance to the Clockworks was thru the gates in the Arcade. (This was before Lockdown was added, so there was no Krogmo there.)

May, 2011 – Arsenal items became bound – ohnoes! (This was way before Punch and Vise, so unbinding was not an option. Later, unbinding was added at quite a high price.)
May, 2011 – Training Halls got added to Havens – cool beans!

May, 2011 – An auction House – it ain’t eBay, but it’s a helluva lot better than nothin!

June, 2011 – Spiral Knights joins Steam.

June, 2011 – A new boss – Snarbolax – my favorite of all the levels! Love that shield and bomb, too.

July, 2011 – A fourth boss – Roarmulus Twins gets added. Previously, there were only Jelly King and Lord Vanaduke.

July, 2011 – Weapons can now get up to 3 Unique Variants.

July, 2011 – Punch and Vise set p shop in Bazaar. Whoopee- gimme dat triple max! Wow, that’s a lot to unbind stuff, but at least we can do it now. Merchanting returns with a vengeance.

August, 2011 – King Krogmo and the first PvP mini-game are added – Blast Network (aka Bomberman). Bombhead masks are all the rage, and since it’s PvP, raging-quiting, rage-cursing, and rage-raging are all the rage, too.

September, 2011 – Lockdown gets added. Huge addition to the game! Let the toxic guild wars begin!

October, 2011 – Prize Wheels and Lockboxes and Accessories gets added. Another huge addition to the game.

October, 2011 – Treasure Vault sub-forum gets created.

November, 2011 – Three Rings, the company that created Spiral Knights, gets acquired by Sega. (Cue Deathstar music)

November, 2011 – Shadow Lairs got added. Finally some really difficult levels with a some cool but nearly completely useless armors added. (Well, snarbolax armor is pretty cool.)

November, 2011 – finally, we can change our personal colors!

February, 2012 – Missions got added – a significant tutorial making the game much more accessible to new players. Prestige points were also added at this time. Arcade becomes a forgotten part of Haven.

February, 2012 – Operation Crimson Hammer – the first (and only) expansion that needed to be purchased, for $4.95 I believe, although now it can be purchased with energy from another player.

March, 2012 – New rank missions. These are fun.

April, 2012 - Mirrored Lockboxes, the first new kind of lockbox, appear in the game. These contain new eye and height options.

June, 2012 – Party Finder added, a semi-useful addition.

June-September, 2012 – One Danger Mission a month got added – yikes these can be tough.

August, 2012 – Shard bombs gets sharded. Bombers weep.

November, 2012 – Guild Halls vastly expanded and furnishings added. Previously guild halls were just one room. Memorial sword (Luv that 5* Lionheart!), shield and furnishings handed out

April, 2013 – The user interface and icons receive a face lift.

May, 2013 – Shield Bash added. (oh, and dash, too – not that I ever use it.)

July 2013 – Battle Sprites get added.

July, 2013 – Mist energy gets removes from the game, and the elevators become free.

And . . . then I took a break for about 2 ½ years. Anyone want to continue this?